Rejection of false turns of rotary inputs for electronic devices

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments for detecting and rejecting false, unintended rotations of rotary inputs of electronic devices are disclosed herein. In one example, an electronic device is provided with an optical detector that measures the distance between the electronic device and the wearer&#39;s forearm or hand, and when the distance is smaller than a threshold distance, the turns of the rotary input are false, unintended turns. In another example, a crown of a rotary input includes a plurality of capacitive sensors that detects the presence of a wearer&#39;s finger, which when absent, the turns of the rotary input are false turns. In another example, deflections or positions of a shaft of the rotary input are measured and if the deflections/positions indicate an upward force on the rotary input (which are likely caused by the wearer&#39;s forearm or hand), the turns of the rotary input are false turns. Other embodiments are described herein.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation patent application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/840,336, filed Apr. 4, 2020, and titled“Rejection of False Turns of Rotary Inputs for Electronic Devices,”which is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/262,728, filed Jan. 30, 2019, and titled “Rejection of FalseTurns of Rotary Inputs for Electronic Devices,” now U.S. Pat. No.10,613,685, issued Apr. 7, 2020, which is a continuation patentapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/048,081, filed Jul.27, 2018 and titled “Rejection of False Turns of Rotary Inputs forElectronic Devices,” now U.S. Pat. No. 10,222,909, issued Mar. 5, 2019,which is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/117,819, filed Aug. 10, 2016 and titled “Rejection of FalseTurns of Rotary Inputs for Electronic Devices,” now U.S. Pat. No.10,048,802, issued Aug. 14, 2018, which is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 applicationof PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2014/016079, filed Feb. 12, 2014 andtitled “Rejection of False Turns of Rotary Inputs for ElectronicDevices,” the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to rotary input devices forelectronic devices, and more particularly relates to rotary inputdevices for wearable electronic devices.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices—such as wearable computing devices (e.g., watches),mobile devices, mobile phones, tablet computers, music and multi-mediaplayers, gaming devices, and other handheld, wearable or portabledevices—have one or more inputs such as buttons, touch screens,switches, and rotary inputs that can perform various functions.

With some rotary inputs or rotary controls, the present inventors haverecognized that there may be false inputs that are not intended by theuser but occur when the rotary inputs are inadvertently orunintentionally moved by contact with clothing, portions of a user's armor hand or other items.

For instance, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, with a wearable electronic device20 in the form of a watch, rotary input(s) may be in the form of a crown22 that rotates to provide input to and control of the wearableelectronic device 20. Since this crown 22 is a user input, external tothe device, it is possible during normal wear that the crown 22 will beturned without the user intending it be turned—for example, when a userputs their hand in their pocket or rotates their wrist into extension(FIG. 1A), hitting the crown 22 into their lower forearm 24 or the backof their hand 26 (FIG. 1A). FIG. 1C shows an electronic device 20positioned on a user's body (represented by dashed lines 24, 26) thatcould be the user's arm or back of the user's hand. If such a rotaryinput 22 also wakes the electronic device 20 from a sleep mode and turnson the screen, these false turns may not only be distracting to theuser, they may also waste battery charge of device 20 that could havebeen saved for intended interactions.

Rotational motion of the user's hand or arm—such as shown in FIG. 1B orwhen for instance the user is opening a door, unscrewing a jar lid, orthe like—may also result in inadvertent, unintentional false turns ofthe crown 22 of the wearable electronic device 20.

Accordingly, as recognized by the present inventors, what is needed aremechanisms and processes for detecting and rejecting false, unintendedrotations of rotary inputs of electronic devices.

SUMMARY

According to one broad aspect of one embodiment of the presentdisclosure, disclosed herein is an electronic device configured todifferentiate between false turns of a rotary input device unintended bya user, and valid turns of the rotary input device intended by the user.In one example, an electronic device may include a processor; a rotaryinput coupled with the processor, the rotary input having a shaftconnected with a crown, the rotary input providing rotary input turndata to the processor when the rotary input is rotated; and a moduleoperating on the electronic device, the module determining whether therotary input turn data from the rotary input is invalid data resultingfrom unintended rotations of the rotary input.

In one example, the module determines whether an amount of rotations ofthe rotary input is greater than a threshold amount of rotations, and ifnot, the input turn data is considered invalid data. In another example,the module determines whether a rate of rotations of the rotary input isgreater than a threshold rate of rotations, and if not, the input turndata is considered invalid data.

In another example, the electronic device may include a shield extendingfrom the housing, the shield positioned around a bottom portion of thecrown. The shield can reduce inadvertent contact between the user's body(such as the user's arm or back of the hand) with the crown of therotary input.

In another example, the electronic device may include the shaft beingpositioned on the housing along an axis that is positioned above acenterline of the housing. In this manner, inadvertent contact betweenthe user's body (such as the user's arm or back of the hand) with thecrown of the rotary input is reduced when compared with an electronicdevice having the shaft of the rotary device positioned at or below thecenterline of the housing.

In another example, the electronic device may include a light sourcepositioned within the housing, the light source emitting light in adirection toward a portion of the user's body; and a detector positionedwithin the housing, the detector detecting one or more reflections ofthe light from the portion of the user's body. In this example, themodule determines whether the portion of the user's body is in contactwith the crown, and if so, the input turn data may be considered invaliddata.

In another embodiment, the electronic device may include one or morecapacitive sensors positioned on the crown, the sensors configured todetect contact with a user's finger. In this example, the moduledetermines whether the rotation of the rotary input resulted fromcontact between the user's finger and the crown, and if not, the inputturn data may be considered invalid data.

In another example, an electronic device may include one or more sensorsdetecting a position or movement/deflection of the shaft. In thisexample, based on the shaft deflection the module determines whether therotation of the rotary input resulted from contact with an upper portionof the crown, and if not, the input turn data may be considered invaliddata.

The electronic device may be in various forms, such as a wearablecomputing device having a touchscreen coupled with the processor. In oneexample, if the module determines that the input turn data is valid datafrom the rotary input, the processor alters the contents of the touchscreen bases on the input turn data; and if the turn data is determinedto be invalid data resulting from false, unintended turns of the rotaryinput, the turn data is rejected and the processor does not alter thecontents of the touch screen based on the input turn data.

According to another broad aspect of another embodiment of the presentdisclosure, disclosed herein is an electronic device having a housing,wherein the electronic device may include a processor; at least onerotary input coupled with the processor, the rotary input providingrotary input turn data to the processor when the rotary input isrotated, the rotary input having a shaft connected with a crown; and atleast one module operating on the electronic device, the moduledetermining whether the rotary input turn data from the rotary input isvalid data resulting from a user's rotations of the rotary input.

In one example, the module determines whether an amount of rotations ofthe rotary input is greater than a threshold amount of rotations, and ifso, the input turn data may be considered valid data. In anotherexample, the module determines whether a rate of rotations of the rotaryinput is greater than a threshold rate of rotations, and if so, theinput turn data may be considered valid data.

In another example, the electronic device may include a light sourcepositioned within the housing, the light source emitting light in adirection toward a portion of the user's body; and a detector positionedwithin the housing, the detector detecting one or more reflections ofthe light as reflected from the portion of the user's body; wherein themodule determines whether the portion of the user's body is in contactwith a lower portion of the crown, and if not, the input turn data maybe considered valid data.

In another example, the electronic device may include one or morecapacitive sensors positioned on the crown, the sensors configured todetect contact with a user's finger; wherein the module determineswhether the rotation of the rotary input resulted from contact betweenthe user's finger and the crown, and if so, the input turn data may beconsidered valid data.

In one example, the electronic device may include one or more sensorsdetecting a position of the shaft; wherein the module determines whetherthe rotation of the rotary input resulted from contact with an upperportion of the crown, and if so, the input turn data may be consideredvalid data.

According to another broad aspect of another embodiment of the presentdisclosure, disclosed herein is a process for an electronic devicehaving at least one rotary input providing data, the process may includedetecting one or more rotations of the rotary input; and determiningwhether the rotations resulted from inadvertent contact with the rotaryinput. In one example, if the determining operation determines that therotations resulted from inadvertent contact with the rotary input, thedata from the rotary input may be rejected.

In another example, the process may include detecting a distance betweenthe electronic device and a portion of a user's body; and comparing thedistance to a threshold distance to determine whether the rotationsresulted from inadvertent contact with the rotary input.

In another example, the process may include detecting a presence or anabsence of contact on the rotary input with a user's finger to determinewhether the rotations resulted from inadvertent contact with the rotaryinput.

In one example, the process may include detecting a position of a shaftof the rotary input to determine whether the rotations resulted frominadvertent contact with the rotary input.

Other embodiments of the disclosure are described herein. The features,utilities and advantages of various embodiments of this disclosure willbe apparent from the following more particular description ofembodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a wearable electronic devicepositioned on a user's arm which can generate false, inadvertent turnsof a crown of a rotary input.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of a wearable electronic devicepositioned on a user's arm which can generate false, inadvertent turnsof the crown of the rotary input.

FIG. 1C illustrates a representation of a wearable electronic devicepositioned on a user's arm which can generate false, inadvertent turnsof the crown of the rotary input.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wearable electronic device having oneor more rotary inputs, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a block diagram of an electronic devicehaving one or more rotatable inputs and one or more false turn rejectionmodules, in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a block diagram of an electronic devicewith a rotary input, light source, and an optical detector to aid indetecting and rejecting false turns of the rotary input, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process for detecting and rejectingfalse turns of a rotary input of an electronic device, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a block diagram of an electronicdevice with a rotary input having one or more capacitive sensors to aidin rejecting false turns of the rotary input, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6B illustrates a side view of FIG. 6A showing an electronic devicewith a rotary input having one or more capacitive sensors to aid inrejecting false turns of the rotary input, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a process for detecting and rejectingfalse turns of a rotary input of an electronic device, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a block diagram of an electronic devicewith a rotary input and a shaft deflection detector to aid in rejectingfalse turns of the rotary input, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a process for detecting and rejectingfalse turns of a rotary input of an electronic device, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a block diagram of an electronicdevice with a rotary input and one or more modules to aid in detectingand rejecting false turns of the rotary input, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a process for detecting and rejectingfalse turns of a rotary input of an electronic device, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an electronic device with a rotaryinput having a mechanical structure to aid in reducing false turns ofthe rotary input, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an electronic device with a rotaryinput positioned at an offset position to aid in reducing false turns ofthe rotary input, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed herein are various embodiments of mechanisms and processes fordetecting and rejecting false, unintended rotations of rotary inputs ofelectronic devices, such as wearable computing devices. In one exampleof the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided with anoptical detector that measures the distance between the electronicdevice and a surface of the wearer's forearm or hand, and when thedistance is smaller than a baseline or threshold distance, the turns ofthe rotary input may be considered to be false, unintended turns. Inanother example of the present disclosure, a crown of a rotary input ofan electronic device includes one or more capacitive sensors whichdetect the presence of a wearer's finger, which when absent, the turnsof the rotary input may be considered to be false, unintended turns. Inanother example, deflections or positions of a shaft of a rotary inputof an electronic device are measured and if the deflections/positionsindicate an upward force on the rotary input (which are likely caused bythe wearer's forearm or hand), the turns of the rotary input may beconsidered to be false, unintended turns. Other embodiments aredescribed herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wearable electronic device 30 havinga plurality of rotatable inputs 32, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present disclosure. Electronic device 30, in this example in theform of a computing device wearable on a user's wrist, may have one ormore rotary inputs 32 which may include a crown or other structure 34which may be attached to a shaft 35, wherein the crown 34 is configuredto be rotated by the user, for instance by one or more of the user'sfingers or thumbs. The electronic device 30 may include a housing 36that encloses and protects the contents of electronic device 30, adisplay 38 (such as a touch screen) to display data and information tothe user as well as to accept touch input from the user, audiooutput/speakers 39, and in one example may also include a band or otherstructure 40 to attach the electronic device 30 to the user, forinstance to the user's arm.

Device 30 may be configured to accommodate both left and right handeduse, in which case a user can decide to orient the device 30 and crown34 pointing either up the user's arm or down the user's arm, as desired.

Electronic device 30 may be configured as a portable computing device,and as shown in FIG. 3, may include a processor 42, memory 44 (which mayinclude ROM and RAM for program memory and data stores), andcommunications interfaces 46 (such as but not limited to wirelessinterfaces, Bluetooth interfaces, USB interfaces, Wi-Fi interfaces,TCP/IP interfaces, network communications interfaces, or anyconventional communication interfaces).

Electronic device 30 may include various input devices 48, such as butnot limited to, touch inputs 50 (which may be part of or separate fromtouchscreen 38), audio/microphone input 52, data from accelerometer(s)53, and rotary inputs 32 which can be provided to enable a user tomanipulate or control electronic device 30, and other inputs such asbuttons, switches, sliders or any other conventional input.

In one example, rotary inputs 32 provide rotary input turn data to theprocessor 42, and such turn data may include, but is not limited to, anumber of turns, or increments of turns, of crown 34, a direction ofturns (e.g., clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of crown 34), a rateof turns, a length of time of rotations of crown 34, and other data andparameters as described herein.

As used herein, the terms “turns” or “rotations” or the like (such as inthe phrases “false turns” or “inadvertent turns”) include any movements,fractional rotations, partial rotations, full rotations, revolutions orany degree or amount of rotary movement of rotary input 32/crown 34, andthese terms are used interchangeably herein.

Rotary input 32 allow a user to perform a variety of functions, such asbut not limited to scroll contents of displays, scroll menus, scrollselections or options, manipulate lists or data, advance or rewind audioor video, move pointers, or perform other various controls of electronicdevice 30 or the content of display 38.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure,electronic device 30 may include one or more module(s) 54 for detectingand/or handling false or inadvertent movements or turns of the rotaryinputs 32. Module(s) 54 may include one or more of the features,functions or processes disclosed herein. Module(s) 54 may be implementedin various manners, such as but not limited to, as hardware devices,specialized integrated circuits, logic, computer program products, codemodules operating on processor 42 or device 30, or in any combinationthereof.

Various embodiments of electronic device 30 are described having one ormore module(s) 54 that can determine whether turns of rotary input32/crown 34 (along with the associated rotary input turn data) are (orpossibly are) false inadvertent turns with invalid data that wereunintended by the user, or whether turns of rotary input 32/crown 34(along with the associated rotary input turn data) are (or possibly are)turns with valid data that were intended by the user.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an electronic device 30 with a rotaryinput 32, wherein the electronic device is configured with a lightsource 60 to emit light 62 onto the wearer's body (such as the user'sarm 24 or back of the user's hand 26), and a detector 64 that detectsreflections of light 62. The light 62 can be emitted prior to and/orduring rotation of the rotary input 32. Based on the characteristics ofthe reflections, electronic device 30 determines whether to reject therotations of rotary input 32 as false, inadvertent rotations or as validrotations intended by the user. For instance, the light 62 can be usedto determine the distance from the crown to the wearer's arm 24 or backof the wearer's hand 26, and the determined distance can be used as afactor in deciding whether rotations of the crown 34 should be rejectedor accepted. In one example, if the detected light reflections indicatethat the wearer's arm 24 or hand 26 are outside of a specified distanceaway from the crown 34, then the rotations of crown 34 can be deemedvalid rotations intended by the user; and conversely, if the detectedlight reflections indicate that the wearer's arm 24 or hand 26 arewithin a specified distance near the crown 34, then the rotations ofcrown 34 can be deemed false, inadvertent rotations and rejected.

In another example, the distance from the crown to the user's arm 24 orhand 26 is used as a factor in deciding whether to accept or rejectrotations of the crown 34. For example, when the distance from the crownto the user's arm 24 or hand 26 goes to zero or is within a defineddistance, turns of the crown 34 would be rejected unless it is detectedthat the crown was touched in at least two discrete places, such as atop portion of the crown and a bottom portion of the crown, such as whenthe user is attempting to rotate the crown while the user's hand is inan extension position.

In one example, the light source 60 can be a light emitting diode (LED)such as an infrared LED. In one embodiment, the shaft 35 of the rotaryinput 32 (or portions of the shaft) may be clear or transparent or mayinclude a light pipe, and the light source 60 may be configured so thatthe light emits out of the shaft 35. In another example, the lightsource 60 may be positioned to transmit light out of the housing 26 ofthe electronic device 30, such as through an opening or a window in thehousing 36.

Detector 64 can be an optical detector such as a photodiode that detectsreflected light, such as but not limited to infrared light. The housing36 may be provided with a window, and the detector 64 can be placedwithin the housing 36 adjacent to the window. For instance, the windowmay be a dedicated window in the housing 36, or a speaker port or otheropening in the housing 36 can also serve as the window where thedetector receives reflected light.

In FIG. 5, an example of a process for detecting and rejecting falseturns of a rotary input of an electronic device is shown, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure. At operation 70 light istransmitted by the electronic device. In one example, operation 70transmits infrared light, although other types of light may betransmitted. Operation 72 detects reflections of the transmitted light.

At operation 74, a distance can be calculated based on the transmittedlight of operation 70 and reflected light detected by operation 72. Forinstance, operation 72 can detect reflections of the transmitted lightoff of a user's arm or back of the hand depending upon the position ofthe electronic device relative to the user.

In one example, operations 70-74 may be performed during aninitialization or calibration phase, for instance by prompting the userthrough the display of the electronic device for the user to place theelectronic device on the user's wrist in a normal, flat, non-extendedposition. This can be used to determine a baseline or default distancevalue.

At operation 76, movements or turns of the crown or rotary input aredetected, and operation 78 determines a distance, for instance adistance from the electronic device to a wearer's arm or back of thehand that exists while the crown is being rotated. In one example,operation 78 may include transmitting light, detecting reflected light,and calculating a distance based on the reflected light, in a mannersimilar to operation 70, 72, 74.

Operation 80 determines whether the distance measured by operation 80 isacceptable or unacceptable. For instance, operation 80 may determinewhether the distance measured by operation 78 is below a desiredthreshold, wherein the threshold may be established by the distancecalculated at operation 74. For instance, in one example, a distance ofzero or near zero may indicate that the crown is in direct contact withthe wearer's back of the hand or forearm. If an acceptable distance ismeasured by operation 78, then control may be passed to operation 82where the rotations of the crown/rotary input are accepted as true,intended user input. Conversely, if an unacceptable distance is measuredby operation 78, then control may be passed to operation 84 where therotations of the crown/rotary input may be rejected as false, unintendeduser input. In another example, operation 84 may indicate that theunacceptable distance be used as a factor in determining whether theturns of the rotary input of the electronic device may be false turns.

If operations 80-82 determine that the turns of the rotary input aretrue, intended turns, then operation 86 can process the movements of therotary inputs as needed so that the electronic device respondsappropriately to the user input received through the rotary input (suchas but not limited to, changing the contents of the display, providingaudible feedback, or otherwise processing the rotary input received fromthe user).

In another embodiment of the present disclosure and referring to FIG.6A-6B, an electronic device 30 can be formed having a rotary input 32having one or more capacitive sensors 90 to aid in detecting andrejecting false turns of rotary input 32. In one example, capacitivesensors 90 are shown in FIG. 6B (side view) as four sensors 90A, 90B,90C and 90D, each positioned about a portion of the crown 34. It isunderstood that more or fewer sensors 90 could be used, and sensors 90could be positioned on other portions of crown 34 or positioned indifferent orientations on crown 34.

In one example, sensors 90 can be used sense distance to the wearer, forinstance distance from the crown to the wearer's wrist or back of thehand, or to sense or detect actual contact therebetween. In anotherexample, sensors 90 can also be used to detect a user's finger placed ontop of crown 34, or on a side of crown 34, to actuate the crown. Sensors90 can also be used to distinguish whether rotation of crown 34 isresulting from detected contact with the top of the crown, which wouldtend to indicate that the rotation is intended by the user through afinger of the user; or whether rotation is resulting from detectedcontact with the bottom of the crown 34, which would tend to indicatecontact with a wearer's arm or back of their hand which is a false,unintended rotation that may be rejected.

In one example, electronic device 30 utilizes a rotary encoder (e.g., anabsolute position rotary encoder) as part of the rotary input 32, andmay also include with capacitive sensors 90 in the crown 34. The rotaryencoder may be configured, in one example, to have marked lines, detentsor other indicia delineating a portion, fraction, increment or unit ofmovement when compared with a full rotation of the rotary input 32. Inone example, the rotary encoder may have 50 marked lines across a full360 degree rotation, which can be interpolated upwardly by the processor42, false turn rejection module 54 or other element within device 30,such as by a factor of four (4×) to create 200 counts per revolution orrotation which equates to approximately 1.8 degrees of resolution. Inthis manner, processor 54 and/or false turn rejection module 54 candetect a fractional/partial amount or degree of rotatory movement of therotary input 32/crown 34 which is less than a full rotation of therotary input 32/crown 34. It is understood that the amount of resolutionof detected rotatory movement of rotary input 32/crown 34 can be largeror smaller in other embodiments, depending upon the particularimplementation, as is the interpolation of such detected movement.

Electronic device 30 can be configured to dynamically determine, at anygiven time, which sensors 90 on the crown 34 are towards the upperportion or top surface 92 (FIG. 6A) of electronic device 30, and whichsensors 90 on the crown are towards the lower portion or bottom surface94 (FIG. 6A) of the electronic device 30. In one example, electronicdevice 30 could be configured so that rotations of the crown 34resulting from contact detected by sensors 90 towards the lowerportion/bottom 94 of the electronic device 30 may be ignored or rejectedas false turns, while rotations of the crown 34 resulting from contactdetected by sensors 90 towards the upper portion 92 of electronic device30 may be accepted as valid input intended by the user. In anotherexample, the lower portion of crown sensors 90 could be dynamicallydesensitized, while the upper portion of the crown sensors 90 could bedynamically highly sensitized.

In another example of the present disclosure, sensors 90 on crown 34 canbe used to distinguish the touch of a finger versus false turnsresulting from a touch of a wrist or back of the user's hand. Sensors 90on crown 34 may sense the presence of a user's finger by determining alocal capacitance maximum value detected; in contrast, the capacitanceprofile generated by contact of a user's wrist with sensors 90 mayappear more like a plane of capacitance and less like a local maximum.In this manner, sensors 90 on crown 34 can be used to distinguish thetouch of a finger versus false turns resulting from a touch of a wristor back of the user's hand.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a process for detecting and rejectingfalse turns of a rotary input of an electronic device, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure. At operation 100, theposition of the capacitive sensors relative to the electronic device aredetermined. In one example, the position of the sensors relative to thetop (92 in FIG. 6A) and/or bottom (94 in FIG. 6A) of the device may bedetermined based on the rotary position of the crown or position of theshaft of the crown, for instance through the use of a rotary encoder.

At operation 102, movements or turns of the rotary input device aredetected. At operation 104, the capacitive sensors on the rotary inputdevice are read, for instance, to determine which of the capacitivesensors detect touch or contact from a user. At operation 106, adetermination is made whether the contact is originating from capacitivesensors positioned towards the bottom (94 in FIG. 6A) of the device ortowards the top (92 in FIG. 6A) of the device. If operation 106determines that contact is originating from sensors positioned towardsthe bottom of the device, then operation 108 may reject the turns of therotary input as false or unintended turns.

Conversely, if operation 106 determines that contact is originating fromsensors positioned toward the top of the device, then operation 110 mayaccept the turns of the rotary input as true, intended turns by theuser. Operation 112 may then process the rotations of the rotary input,and the electronic device may respond accordingly.

In one example, if sensors towards the top and towards the bottom of thedevice are simultaneously triggered, this input scenario could mean thatthe user is contacting the top of the crown with a finger while thebottom of the crown is being contacted by the user's arm or back of thehand. In one example, such scenario could be processed as true userinput based on an assumption that the user is intentionally rotating therotary input in a manner that is overcoming the contact from the user'sarm or back of the hand.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a block diagram of an electronic device30 with a rotary input 32 having a crown 34 attached to a shaft 35,wherein a shaft deflection detector 120 is provided to aid in detectingand rejecting false turns of the rotary input 32, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure. In one example, the shaft 35 ofthe rotary input 32 is positioned or supported by pivot supports orsuspension supports 122, which may include one or more O-rings.

Shaft deflection detector 120, in one example, measures or determinesthe position of the shaft 35 (such as an internal end of the shaft 35),such as by determining the distance and/or direction that shaft 35 movesor travels during a rotation of rotary input 32. The deflections ofshaft 35 are used to determine whether the turns of crown 34 areresulting from downward force for instance from a user's finger or thumb(which would be associated with true, intended rotary input), orresulting from upward force for instance from inadvertent contactbetween the crown 34 and the user's arm 24 or back of the hand 26 (whichwould be associated with false, unintended rotary input).

In another embodiment, detector 120 senses the moment or torque causedby downward pressure of a finger on the crown 34, compared to thenegative moment caused by upward pressure of the user's arm 24 or wrist26 on the crown 34.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a process for detecting and rejectingfalse turns of a rotary input of an electronic device, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure.

At operation 130, the position of the shaft of the rotary input relativeto the electronic device is determined. In one example, the position ofthe shaft relative to the top and/or bottom of the device may bedetermined for instance through the use of a position sensor or torquesensor configured to monitor the shaft.

At operation 132, movements or turns of the rotary input device aredetected. At operation 134, the deflection or direction of shaftmovement is detected. At operation 136, a determination is made whetherthe rotation of the crown/rotary input is originating from generallyupward contact with the crown, or originating from generally downwardcontact with the crown. If operation 136 determines that the rotation ofthe crown/rotary input is originating from generally upward contact withthe crown—for instance from inadvertent contact between the crown 34 andthe user's arm 24 or back of the hand 26 which would be associated withfalse, unintended rotary input—then operation 138 may reject the turnsof the rotary input as false or unintended turns.

Conversely, if operation 136 determines that the rotation of thecrown/rotary input is originating from generally downward contact withthe crown—for instance from contact from a user's finger or thumb intothe crown which would be associated with true, intended rotaryinput—then operation 140 may accept the turns of the rotary input astrue, intended turns by the user. Operation 142 may then process therotations of the rotary input, and the electronic device may respondaccordingly.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example an electronic device 30 with a rotaryinput 32 and one or more modules (for instance, modules 54 in FIG. 3)that aid in detecting and rejecting false turns of the rotary input 32,in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

In one example, modules 54 perform one or more functions or operationsdescribed herein. Modules 54 may also differentiate between true,intended turns of rotary input 32 and false, unintended turns of rotaryinput 32 by analyzing characteristics of the rotations detected byelectronic device 30 when rotary input 32 moves. For instance, falseturns would be expected to be relatively short duration, low torqueevents since they are often due to friction. These events could berejected using a torque sensor measuring torque about the shaft axis, ora rotary detector or rotatory encoder in communications with the shaft35 measuring characteristics of shaft rotations.

In one example, one or more thresholds (such as a minimum number ofrotations, a minimum rate of rotations, a minimum amount of time duringrotations, a minimum amount of rotational torque, or any combinationthereof) may be defined and stored in device 30, wherein thecharacteristics of the detected rotations of rotary input 32 need toexceed the threshold before electronic device 30 accepts the rotationsas valid, intended input from the user.

In one example, the electronic device 30, when in a sleep mode (forinstance, with the display 38 off) and upon detecting rotation of rotaryinput 32, may determine whether the characteristics of the rotationsexceed the threshold(s), and if not, the detected turns may be deemedfalse, unintended turns and the device 30 is maintained in the sleepmode (with the display 38 off), thereby conserving stored batteryenergy.

Conversely, if the device 30 determines the characteristics of therotations exceed the threshold(s), the detected turns may be deemedtrue, intended turns and the device 30 awakes out of the sleep mode andthe display 38 may be activated.

For instance as an example for illustrative purposes only, approximately160 to 180 degrees of turn of the crown 34 of input 32 may be a minimumthreshold to register or trigger waking up the electronic device 30 outof a sleep mode or to perform other functions of the electronic device30.

In another example, once the device 30 is awake, the threshold(s) foraccepting rotations of the rotary input could be reduced so as to acceptlower torques or other lower rotary input characteristics as valid,intended rotary input.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a process for detecting and rejectingfalse turns of a rotary input of an electronic device, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure. At operation 150, theelectronic device is in a sleep mode, for instance in a low-power modewith the display off and with one or more of other components of theelectronic device in a low-power or sleep mode. At operation 152,movements or turns of the rotary input/crown are detected. At operation154, characteristics of the rotation or movement of the rotary input aremeasured or determined. In one example, these characteristics mayinclude but are not limited to the number of rotations, the rate ofrotations, the amount of time during rotations, the amount of rotationaltorque, or any combination thereof.

At operation 156, a determination is made as to whether thecharacteristics of the detected rotations, as measured by operation 154,meet or exceed one or more rotation characteristic thresholds. Thesethresholds may include but are not limited to a minimum number ofrotations, a minimum rate of rotations, a minimum amount of time duringrotations, a minimum amount of rotational torque, or any combinationthereof. If operation 156 determines that the detected rotations of therotary input did not meet or exceed the rotation characteristicthresholds, then control is passed to operation 158 wherein the detectedrotations/turns of the rotary input/crown may be rejected as false,unintended turns; and control may be returned to operation 150 whereinthe electronic device is maintained in a sleep mode.

If operation 156 determines that the detected rotations of the rotaryinput do meet or exceed the rotation characteristic thresholds, thencontrol is passed to operation 160 wherein the detected rotations/turnsof the rotary input/crown may be accepted as true, intended turns andvalid user input; and control may be passed to operation 162 wherein theelectronic device may be awoken out of the sleep mode, and the displayand other functional components of the device may be started up into anormal, operating mode. At operation 164, the movements of the rotaryinput/crown, for instance as detected by operation 152, are processedaccordingly and the electronic device responds to such rotary input byperforming one or more functions or operations programmed on theelectronic device.

In another example of electronic device 30, a photoplethysmograph (PPG)sensor may be provided within device 30 to measures the relative bloodflow through the user's body proximate the location of the electronicdevice (such as but not limited to the user's arm/wrist), and to detect,for instance, a wrist clench characteristic or a wrist extensioncondition. When a wrist clench or extension condition (such as shown inFIG. 1A) is detected via the PPG sensor data, these conditions may beconsidered by the electronic device 30 when determining whether detectedrotations of the rotary input 32 are false/unintended turns ortrue/intended turns.

FIG. 12 illustrates another example of an electronic device 30 with arotary input 32 having a mechanical structure such as a shield 170extending from the housing 36, wherein the shield 170 surrounds aportion of the crown 34. Shield 170 aids in reducing occurrences offalse turns of the rotary input 32, by shielding or partially shieldingcrown 34 from physical contact with a user's arm 24 or back of hand 26or other body parts. For instance, shield 170 can reduce the occurrenceof false, inadvertent turns of rotary input 32/crown 34 during wristextensions or other movement (such as movements shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B).Shield 170 may be configured to cover the bottom of the crown 34, thesides of crown 34, or both.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an electronic device 30 with a rotaryinput 32 positioned at upwardly offset position to aid in reducingoccurrences of false turns of the rotary input 32/crown 34, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. In thisexample, the crown 34 is positioned or centered about an axis 180 thatis above the centerline 182 of the housing 36 of device 30. The upwardlyoffset position of rotary input 32 increases the amount of space betweenthe bottom of the crown 34 and the user's back of the hand or lowerforearm. In this manner, occurrences of false turns of crown 34 aredecreased when compared with when the crown 34 is positioned or centeredat or below the centerline 182 of the housing 36 of device 30.

In another example of electronic device 30, electronic device 30 can beconfigured so that if on touch screen 38, two fingers are detected ascontacting display 38, then rotational input to the crown 34 may beconsidered false input.

In another example of electronic device 30, electronic device 30 may beconfigured so that when accelerometer 53 senses that the device 30 ismoving with general rotational motion or with randomized motion (such asduring exercise by the user), device 30 may require a larger amount ofrotations of rotary input 32/crown 34 or a longer time duration of crownrotations, in order to accept the rotations/input as valid, intendedinput or to wake up device 30 if device 30 is in a sleep mode.

Hence, it can be seen that various embodiments of the present disclosureprovide an electronic device 30 that detect and/or handle false orinadvertent movements or turns of the rotary inputs 32 which areunintended by the user. An electronic device 30 can be formed utilizingone or more of the features, functions, processes or structuresdisclosed herein.

While the methods disclosed herein have been described and shown withreference to particular operations performed in a particular order, itwill be understood that these operations may be combined, sub-divided,or re-ordered to form equivalent methods without departing from theteachings of the present disclosure. Accordingly, unless specificallyindicated herein, the order and grouping of the operations is not alimitation of the present disclosure.

It is understood that the directional references provided herein, suchas top, bottom, upwards, downwards, clockwise, counterclockwise, left,right, and the like, are provided to describe examples of theembodiments disclosed herein, and are not intended to be limiting.

It should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of exemplaryembodiments of the disclosure, various features of the disclosure aresometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, Figure, ordescription thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure andaiding in the understanding of one or more of the various aspects. Thismethod of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claims require more features than are expresslyrecited in each claim. Rather, inventive aspects lie in less than allfeatures of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment, and each embodimentdescribed herein may contain more than one inventive feature.

While the disclosure is presented and described with reference toembodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various other changes in the form and details may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. An electronic watch comprising: a display; ahousing at least partially surrounding the display; a processorpositioned within the housing; and a crown positioned along a side ofthe housing, the crown comprising an array of sensors positioned along aperiphery of an external surface of the crown and operably coupled tothe processor, the array of sensors operable to detect a position of atouch at the external surface.
 22. The electronic watch of claim 21,wherein: the crown comprises a shaft that extends into an interior ofthe housing; and the electronic watch further comprises a rotationalsensor that is configured to detect a rotation of the crown.
 23. Theelectronic watch of claim 22, wherein the rotational sensor is anoptical sensor that is configured to detect the rotation of the crownusing reflected light.
 24. The electronic watch of claim 21, wherein theelectronic watch is configured to determine if the position of the touchis along a top region or a bottom region of the external surface. 25.The electronic watch of claim 24, wherein: in response to the touchbeing along the top region of the external surface, the electronic watchis configured to accept input from the crown; and in response to thetouch being along the bottom region of the external surface, theelectronic watch is configured to reject input from the crown.
 26. Theelectronic watch of claim 24, wherein the bottom region of the externalsurface is proximate to a wrist of a user when the electronic watch isworn.
 27. The electronic watch of claim 21, wherein the electronic watchis configured to reject an input to the crown unless the touch isdetected by the array of sensors.
 28. A wearable electronic devicecomprising: a housing; a band coupled to the housing and configured toattach the wearable electronic device to a wrist; a display positionedat least partially within the housing; and a crown comprising: a dialpositioned along a side of the housing; and an array of sensorspositioned along an exterior of the dial and configured to detect alocation of a touch on the dial.
 29. The wearable electronic device ofclaim 28, wherein the display is configured to scroll displayed contentsin response to an input provided to the crown.
 30. The wearableelectronic device of claim 28, wherein the wearable electronic device isconfigured to determine whether the location is along a top or a bottomof the dial.
 31. The wearable electronic device of claim 30, wherein:the wearable electronic device is configured to accept a crown input inresponse to a determination that the location is along the top of thedial; and the wearable electronic device is configured to reject thecrown input in response to a determination that the location is along abottom of the dial.
 32. The wearable electronic device of claim 28,wherein: the wearable electronic device is configured to detect acontact with the wrist using the array of sensors; and the wearableelectronic device is configured to reject a crown input in response todetecting the contact with the wrist.
 33. The wearable electronic deviceof claim 28, wherein the array of sensors is an array of capacitivesensors operable to detect capacitive coupling between the crown and anexternal object.
 34. The wearable electronic device of claim 33,wherein: the wearable electronic device is configured to detect a localcapacitance maximum using the array of capacitive sensors; and inresponse to detecting the local capacitive maximum, accept an input fromthe crown.
 35. The wearable electronic device of claim 28, wherein: thewearable electronic device further comprises an optical sensor; and theoptical sensor is configured to detect a rotational input provided tothe crown.
 36. An electronic watch comprising: a housing; a touch screenpositioned at least partially within the housing; a processor positionedwithin the housing; and a crown positioned along a side of the housing,the crown comprising an array of capacitive sensors positioned along aperiphery of the crown and operably coupled to the processor, theelectronic watch configured to detect a location of a touch along thecrown using the array of capacitive sensors.
 37. The electronic watch ofclaim 36, wherein the electronic watch is configured to ignore an inputto the crown in response to a determination that the touch is notdetected.
 38. The electronic watch of claim 37, wherein: the electronicwatch is configured to enter a sleep mode; a graphical output is notdisplayed on the touch screen when the electronic watch is in the sleepmode; and the electronic watch is configured to transition from thesleep mode to an operational mode in response to accepting the input.39. The electronic watch of claim 36, wherein the electronic watchcomprises a rotation sensor configured to detect rotational inputprovided to the crown.
 40. The electronic watch of claim 39, wherein:the electronic watch is configured to disregard the rotational inputunless the location of the touch is along a top region of the crown; andin response to disregarding the rotational input, the electronic watchis configured to maintain a static display on the touch screen.